2011 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Music (Original Score) - Alexandre Desplat Cinematography - Danny Cohen Actor in a Supporting Role - Geoffrey Rush in "The King's Speech" Actress in a Supporting Role - Helena Bonham Carter in "The King's Speech" Costume Design - Jenny Beavan Sound Mixing - Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley Art Direction - Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr Film Editing - Tariq Anwar * Actor in a Leading Role - Colin Firth in "The King's Speech" * Best Picture - Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers * Writing (Original Screenplay) - Screenplay by David Seidler * Directing - Tom Hooper Oscars 2011 Nominations List: Academy Awards Nominees | The Huffington Post Oscars 2011 Nominations List: Academy Awards Nominees 01/25/2011 08:27 am ET | Updated May 25, 2011 2.1k HuffPost/DAVID GERMAIN Huffington Post/AP BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.

-- The British monarchy saga "The King's Speech" leads the Academy Awards with 12 nominations, including best picture and acting honors for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush. "This story has struck such a rich resonant chord with audiences of all ages, which is very exciting - to have your work honored by your industry peers is even better," Rush said in a statement. Also nominated for best picture Tuesday were the psychosexual thriller "Black Swan"; the boxing drama "The Fighter"; the sci-fi blockbuster "Inception"; the lesbian-family tale "The Kids Are All Right"; the survival story "127 Hours"; the Facebook chronicle "The Social Network"; the animated smash "Toy Story 3"; the Western "True Grit"; and the Ozarks crime thriller "Winter's Bone." "True Grit" ran second with 10 nominations, including acting honors for Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld. The Feb.

27 Oscars set up a best-picture showdown between two favorites, "The King's Speech" and "The Social Network." "The Social Network" won best drama at the Golden Globes and was picked as the year's best by key critics groups, while "The King's Speech" pulled an upset last weekend by winning the Producers Guild of America Awards top prize, whose recipient often goes to claim best picture at the Oscars. The favorites in the male-acting categories both were nominated, Globe winners Firth as best actor for "The King's Speech" and Christian Bale as supporting actor for "The Fighter." The best-actress field shapes up as a two-woman race between Annette Bening for "The Kids Are All Right," who won the Globe for actress in a musical or comedy, and Natalie Portman for "Black Swan," who received the Globe for dramatic actress. The supporting-actress Oscar could prove the most competitive among acting prizes. Melissa Leo won the Globe for "The Fighter," but she faces strong challenges from that film's co-star Amy Adams and 14-year-old newcomer Steinfeld, who missed out on a Globe nomination for "True Grit" but made the cut for supporting actress at the Oscars.

"The Social Network" casts Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who's depicted as an interpersonal lout in one-on-one relations but a genius for the masses, creating an online hangout where half a billion people now keep connected with friends. "The King's Speech" stars Firth as Queen Elizabeth II's father, the stammering George VI, who reluctantly came to the throne after his brother abdicated in 1936, a terrible time for a stuttering monarch as British subjects looked to their ruler for inspiration via radio as World War II approached. The two films represent a showdown between classy, traditional Oscar bait and edgy, youthful, up-to-the-minute drama. With its aristocrats, statesmen and perilous times, "The King's Speech" is a throwback to the majestic, eye-filling costume pageants that dominated film awards in Hollywood's earlier decades. Its nominations also include best director for Tom Hooper and supporting-acting slots for Bonham Carter as the king's devoted wife and Rush as his wily speech therapist. "The Social Network" is an immediate story, set not in palaces but college dorm rooms, cluttered start-up space and anonymous legal offices where Zuckerberg battles former associates over the proceeds of his invention.

David Fincher is the best-directing favorite for "The Social Network" after winning that prize at the Globes.

Along with Firth and Eisenberg, best-actor contenders are Javier Bardem as a dying father in the Spanish-language drama "Biutiful," which also is up for best foreign-language film; Bridges as boozy lawman Rooster Cogburn in "True Grit," a role that earned John Wayne an Oscar for the 1969 adaptation of the Western novel; and James Franco in the real-life tale of a climber trapped in a crevasse after a boulder crushes his arm in "127 Hours." Bening was nominated for best actress as a lesbian mom whose family is thrown into turmoil after her teenage children seek out their sperm-donor father in "The Kids Are All Right." Portman was nominated as a ballerina losing her grip on reality in "Black Swan." Other best-actress nominees are Nicole Kidman as a grieving mother in "Rabbit Hole"; Jennifer Lawrence as a teen trying to find her missing father amid the Ozark Mountains' criminal underbelly in "Winter's Bone"; and Michelle Williams as a wife in a failing marriage in "Blue Valentine." Joining Fincher among best-director picks are Darren Aronofsky for "Black Swan"; Joel and Ethan Coen for "True

 Grit"; Tom Hooper for "The King's Speech"; and David O.

Russell for "The Fighter." The directing category is back to an all-male lineup after Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win that prize last year for "The Hurt Locker," which also claimed best picture. The Oscar ceremony will be televised live on ABC from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. THE LIST: 2011 Oscars - Academy Awards Guide - Movies.com The Awards Line: The Sag of the Oscar Race By Stacie Hougland Jan 30, 2012 Comments (0) You know that period right after the Oscar nominations? After all the outrage over all the snubs and surprises have subsided, approximately 36 hours after one discovers something like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has been nominated? It's called the slow fade to the actual Oscars. Before The Artist even got its 10 nominations, we already knew it won the Producer's Guild Award, which has called the last four Oscar races and 14-of-21 since 1990. A few days after that, we found out that The Artist's helmer, Michel Hazanavicius, won the Directors' Guild Prize.

The winning film of that award has corresponded with the Oscar-winning Best Picture, in that same period, 17-of-21 times. The writing is on the wall despite whatever suspense tries to be manufactured by Oscar watchers until Feb. 26. Maybe the Screen Actors Guild could make things interesting amongst the acting races. But not too interesting. The evening kicked off Sunday with the presentation of the two Supporting acting categories and it was to no one's surprise that Christopher Plummer ( Beginners ) and Octavia Spencer ( The Help ) walked away with "The Actor." They had already won the other two televised award shows from the ethically questionable Golden Globes and the Broadcast Film Critics Association, gave great speeches and appeared to be paving the way on the road to the ultimate gold -- just as in the previous two years when Mo'Nique, Christoph Waltz, Melissa Leo and Christian Bale had to clear shelf space during this same period. Since 1994, the Screen Actors Guild has only matched Oscar in each of the Supporting prizes 58.8% of the time, even if the Actor side has a four-year winning streak. Those of you looking for firmer Oscar pool numbers though, rest assured we have them for you.

In an effort to reduce the emphasis Hollywood is recently placing on the significance of the BFCA (aside from Houston, they were the only critics group to "predict" Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close as a Best Picture nominee), we shall leave them out of the equation since they do not really change the equations in question anyway. We'll stick with the other devil we have known for too long. The one with the actual network prime-time awards show. Those bribe-tastic Hollywood Foreign Press and their precious Golden Globes. Examining Spencer's chances for the Oscar now, we can see that since the advent of the SAGs in 1994, when their choice for Supporting Actress corresponds with the Globes, 8-of-9 times that winner also grabbed the Oscar. That is excluding the year when Kate Winslet won all the Supporting awards for The Reader and went on to win the Lead and - including - the last seven times Globe & SAG has matched. Not since Lauren Bacall (The Mirror Has Two Faces) in 1996 has there been a snub. Over to Christopher Plummer, he can take comfort that 6-of-7 times Globe & SAG have complied - including the last four.

Back in 2006 though, Eddie Murphy (collector of both trophies) ended up losing the Oscar to Alan Arkin, who, like Max Von Sydow this year (playing the grandfather of a "special" child) was not nominated for the Globe or the SAG. Should Plummer worry that he's facing off against another 82 year-old legend who has only ever been nominated once for an Academy Award? Unless he's doing Norbit 2, probably not. Best Actress was more or less going to be decided on Sunday night. Viola Davis had won the award from the group that need not be mentioned. Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams split the two genre-labeled categories from the Globes. Streep was up for her fourth SAG award in the last six years and won The Actor in 2008 for Doubt. (She then lost the Oscar to Winslet in the category-switch year.) She appeared to be the slight favorite for The Iron Lady going into Sunday night. 13 of the last 17 years, the Oscar has gone to one of the Globe winners in this category. SAG has matched with Oscar here 12 times in their 17-year history.

And then SAG threw the curveball to Viola Davis. Not an underdog or even a giant surprise by any stretch, but kind of throws our whole SAG/Globe statistic out the window. Fine, we'll give you one stat associated with that other group. Then put it out of your memory. Of the 10 times the BFCA have matched with SAG, that Best Actress has won the Oscar 8 times. George Clooney had also taken a slight edge in the Best Actor race over Jean Dujardin, besting The Artist star 2-1 in the TV Awards up until Sunday night. Now the match is all even. Each with a Globe, Clooney with a Voldemort prize and Dujardin now with a SAG. What does it all mean? 11-of-16 BFCA winners won the Oscar, including the last eight. Nice predictions, gang. SAG meanwhile boasts the best record in any acting category from any of the TV awards mentioned for Best Actor.

Taking into account the Globes need two choices to produce their winning stat, the SAGs with only one have matched Oscar 13-of-17 times (including the last seven.) Dujardin may have regained the edge, but this is certainly going to be the most interesting race of the night. That is because The Artist has all but won Best Picture at this point. It didn't take long for the suspense-seekers to start wondering about The Help as a serious challenger now. Why? Because it won as many SAG trophies as American Beauty and Chicago? Neither of their leading actresses went on to win the Oscar. So does that mean Viola Davis is doomed now too? The SAG ensemble award, which The Help won, is the most overrated Best Picture precursor out there. For 16 years it has been a 50/50 proposition that has seen Little Miss Sunshine, The Full Monty and The Birdcage. Heck, Bridesmaids had a better shot at picking up the prize than The Artist, which is barely more an ensemble piece than Oleanna.

Any of the other four nominees, including both The Descendants and Midnight In Paris would have been better choices for an ensemble award than the Oscar frontrunner, which The Artist still is despite whatever perceived help Tate Taylor's film received from SAG. Related pages: The Conversation: Is 'The Artist" the Frontrunner for Best Picture? Does It Deserve to Be? By Stacie Hougland Dec 13, 2011 Comments (0) I'm not a big fan of The Artist , but I'm also not a big fan of the Academy Awards. The two are probably meant to be together. And after winning an unspeakable amount of critic awards over the weekend ( Peter Martin mentioned some yesterday ) and nominations for Critics' Choice Awards today, Michel Hazanavicius' homage to Hollywood's golden age (not just the silent era) is on fire as the apparent frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar. It's closest competition seems to be from Hugo and The Descendants , though War Horse could also race into the lead. Of course, there's been a backlash against the film for a while from those of us who think The Artist is just okay, not the best of the year.

Still, backlash hasn't kept a whole lot of hated films from taking the top honor. Right now, and I doubt this will change, I anticipate the French film to be the first silent Best Picture winner since the very first Academy Awards. It will be a fitting bookend just before the world ends next year, won't it? What are people saying about The Artist as the Best Picture frontrunner? Here's The Conversation heard around the blogosphere and Twitter: It's looking like we may be in for a best picture Oscar battle between the movies about the movies, The Artist and Hugo, which have looked like two of the strongest contenders for weeks (along with The Descendants), and solidified that standing with a field-leading eleven nominations each this morning. Neither film was built to win Oscars in the way that, say, The King's Speech was last year -- indeed, the former is a silent black-and-white film and the latter is a kids' movie -- but if even jaded critics and pundits are susceptible to their emotional wiles, then it's hard to imagine that Academy members won't be.

- Scott Feinberg, The Race (The Hollywood Reporter) The Artist and Hugo have dominated the early critics prizes so far — the question in my mind at this point is, Can Hugo actually win? It certainly has a lot going for it: a prestige director, a lovely screenplay, gorgeous technical attributes. But will it have enough support from the actors’ branch, the largest unit in the Academy? No film in the last 15 years has won Best Picture without at least scoring a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Cast, so I’ll be looking closely at tomorrow’s SAG Award announcement. If Hugo makes the cut, then it’s within striking distance for the win. - Dave Karger, Inside Movies (Entertainment Weekly) At this point in the Best Picture contest, The Artist’s biggest problem is Hugo, Hugo’s biggest problem is The Artist, and Midnight in Paris' biggest problem is that these two newer, higher-profile movies are now vying for the “let’s go on a magical journey to a more inspirational time” voting demographic that Allen has had to himself for most of 2011.

A lot of advertising dollars are being spent on the proposition that this mood, which propelled The King’s Speech to a very 1980s-ish win over The Social Network last year, still prevails. - Mark Harris, Hollywood-Prospectus (Grantland) As far as the movies up for Best Picture, it's certainly looking like the big race is being led by two relatively small movies, Michel Hazanavicius' silent movie The Artist and Alexander Payne's touching dramedy The Descendants. Steven Spielberg's War Horse and Martin Scorsese's Hugo has gained quite a bit of support, and crowdpleasers like Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris and The Help are sure to get in, but none of these have the sort of overwhelming support to pull out a victory. - Edward Douglas, ComingSoon.net It's a three-horse race for Best Picture, with "The Artist" still leading the pack, more contemporary voters leaning towards "The Descendants" and a small, cultish following developing for "Tree Of Life." The absence of "The Help" and "War Horse" in any major categories could spell doom for those once-frontrunners.

- Gabe Toro, The Playlist People voting to support the latest by dear, beloved Martin Scorsese -- keeper of the cineaste flame -- is understandable despite 75% of Hugo being a mostly tedious sit. But support for The Artist is pure Zelig thinking -- a vote for pleasantness and taking the easy schmoozy way out and sparkling, silver-toned good vibes. - Jeffrey Wells, Hollywood Elsewhere The fact that this movie is being proclaimed the Best Film of 2011 by various critics' groups is literally—there's no other word for it—insane. One could make a snide remark or two about the various members of said groups perhaps strongly identifying with the film's title character's entitled indignance at his imposed obselescence, but that would just be mean. However, I will say that any expectation that these proclamations will effect some kind of populist wellspringing on the film's behalf is even more insane. We shall see. - Glenn Kenney, Some Came Running I've spoken to several film-buff friends who came away from the film feeling disappointed.

I can understand why: at this point it's been praised to the skies, and people--especially old-movie aficionados--are going to see it with outsized expectations. "The Artist" isn't the Second Coming, or a reinvention of silent-film techniques: it's a charming story that successfully emulates the look and feel of the late 1920s. I don't think filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius has any pretensions about his work: he just wanted to make an entertaining movie that paid homage to the silent era. In the same vein, I've talked to other savvy moviegoers who haven't been won over by "Hugo" and "The Descendants." They're perfectly entitled to their opinions, but I fear they have gone to see these films all too aware of the awards and lavish praise they've received. - Leonard Maltin, Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy (Indiewire) The Artist is so clearly the Oscar frontrunner that it could face backlash and ultimately lose its grip on the lead spot. [...] The Artist is out there in front, the most powerful position but also the most vulnerable. Any narrative shift would certainly shift away from The Artist.

However, the interesting thing about this season: there is no diametric opposite to wrangle votes away from the presumed favorite. - Jason McKiernan, Next Projection Long pegged as an awards frontrunner by the critics who saw it and loved it at festivals, this French-made love letter to silent movies made good on its potential last week in a big way, winning the top prize from the New York Film Critics Circle, scoring a handful of Independent Spirit Nominations, and opening to strong box office in limited release to boot. It's still a smallish movie, which might make it hard for the Best Picture win to happen, but at this point it would take something very, very strange for The Artist to miss out on Best Picture. - Katey Rich, Cinema Blend I guess it’ll be interesting to see how the guilds swing this year, though last year it didn’t matter. The Social Network snapped up just about every award in sight, but Oscar didn’t listen. Regardless of how the guilds pan out, I still think its The Artist’s to lose. - Craig Kennedy, Living in Cinema @metacritic : The Best Picture race so far: 1. The Artist 2. Tree of Life 3.

The Descendants; more at our Awards Scorecard -> @BretEastonEllis : The Artist will win best picture, best director and best actor at the Oscars next year. Good night. @suzanneellis : Love seeing all this Oscar buzz surrounding The Artist -- such a wonderful film, here's hoping it wins big!! #favefilmof2011 @joezorry : People over at #OscarBuzz does not seem to have an idea what makes a good movie, or seen one. Calling it now "The Artist" for Best Picture. @Matthew_Lucas : Watch it pull a SOCIAL NETWORK. I still think Daldry is in it to win it. @Jeffrey_Archer : Went to a screening of War Horse yesterday - if it doesn't win the Oscar for best picture, I'll be fascinated to see the film that beats it Follow Christopher Campbell on Twitter ( @thefilmcynic ) to join The Conversation . Related pages: The Conversation: Do Andy Serkis and Uggie the Dog Deserve Oscar Recognition?

By Stacie Hougland Nov 30, 2011 Comments (0) It's a great year for animal characters in movies, as I've noted elsewhere recently . And now two of the most notable performances are being talked about for Academy Awards. One is an actual beast, while the other is a man who plays a beast. First, there's Uggie, the Jack Russell terrier who plays an Asta-like pup in The Artist (also seen this year in Water for Elephants ). Begun by Movieline's S.T. VanAirsdale, the cute little canine already has a Facebook campaign and Twitter hashtag (not to mention he's skateboarding on TV for promotion) in the hopes that he'll be recognized in some capacity. Maybe the Academy can quickly devise a new animal-based category (competition could be animals in Beginners , War Horse , The Turin Horse and Le Havre ), similar to the Cannes Palm Dog Award (which Uggie won this year). I think there's too many great animal performances to just honor him with a special trophy.

Besides, as Awards Daily's Sasha Stone points out , Uggie wasn't even the only dog in the role (of course, it can also be said that many actors share roles with stuntmen and doubles, too). At the very least, I think the Oscars ceremony should feature an animal montage. Then there's Andy Serkis , go-to-guy for excellent motion-capture performances, including this year's acclaimed gig as Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes . Talk of giving Serkis consideration for an Oscar has been going on since the film's release -- not to mention in the past for playing Gollum and King Kong -- and I wrote about it in depth at the time (also elsewhere ), stating that he deserves a special award, but so does veteran primate performer Peter Elliott (most recently seen in Project Nim reenactments). However, Fox is now pushing him for Best Supporting Actor in ads and trade articles , which is far less likely. One question I always ask people regarding Serkis's skills is, why doesn't anyone praise his non-mo-cap work (I loved him this year in both Burke and Hare and Brighton Rock , neither of which were great films overall).

Anyway, a special award could recognize his work for The Adventures of Tintin , which he's also awesome in. I suspect that the campaign for Serkis, which also has its own Twitter and hashtag support, is primarily to market the film's DVD/Blu-ray release in a couple weeks. Yet the debate rages on, with many upset that Serkis should even be considered alone for a performance that also required a lot of effects artists. What are people saying about Oscar consideration for Uggie and Andy? Here's The Conversation heard around the blogosphere and Twitter: The Artist’s wonder dog — confidant, co-star and lifesaving sidekick of the film’s exiled silent-film icon George Valentin — delivers as nuanced a performance as either leading man Jean Dujardin or leading lady Bérénice Bejo, and all while adhering most strictly to the covenants of silent-cinema storytelling. Intertitles schmintertites! From his connection to his master to his lingering close-ups and beyond, Uggie is director Michel Hazanavicius’s purest model of physical expression.

That he and his trainers have yet to receive so much as an honorary nod beyond the Palm Dog prize praising the year’s most noteworthy Cannes-ine (ahem) performance is an oversight worth correcting. - S.T. VanAirsdale, Movieline For real, guys. Join the Consider Uggie Facebook page and promote the Twitter hashtag #Consider Uggie. And who knows, if the movement is successful, Uggie may actually have some competition. There’s a dog in “Beginners” too, another Jack Russell terrier, Cosmo. And he does speak – in subtitles, no less. - Melena Ryzik, The Carpetbagger (New York Times) Uggie might not win an Oscar, but that doesn't mean he can't receive some critical love. There just needs to be one critics group man (and woman) enough to stand up for a dog. - Christopher Rosen, Moviefone @LouLeminick : Biggest #NYFCC disappointment: no special award for best performance of 2011, Jack Russell terrier in "The Artist.'' @WeinsteinFilms : Consider UGGIE, the wonder dog! Spread the word!

Help the lovable co-star of #TheArtist get recognized! @Phil_on_Film : Be brave, Oscar voters! Every dog should have its day! @nia_loves_films : however wonderful that would be, I'm not holding out much hope for such diversity #Interrupersgate #Sennagate @Maimaimaiii : I love dogs so I'll have to be a part of #ConsiderUggie @cinemablogrpher : Best Performance by a Domestic Animal? Joining Uggie in Oscar's new category should be Arthur, Paw Paw, Inca, & Freida Pinto. @AwardsDaily : You know it's a fairly lackluster Oscar year when the only excitement anyone's had has been the #muppetoscars and the #uggie campaign. What he does when he’s wearing those green dots is magic. Other, more renowned conventional thesps have proved underwhelming when handed the same motion-capture opportunities.

But if it was Daniel Day-Lewis who had created Caesar to such acclaim — mind you, I’m not certain Day-Lewis, or anyone, could equal what Serkis accomplished — I suspect that the debate about whether motion-capture performances deserve a fair shake at the Oscars might be very different. - Jeff Labrecque, PopWatch Entertainment Weekly Of course, this isn’t an idle thing for Fox, since an Oscar nod for Serkis would be a newsworthy, groundbreaking thing, and consequently great publicity for a film that has already done much better business than many expected. - Russ Fischer, /Film But the question must be asked: Why not go for best actor rather than supporting? Without Caesar, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is nothing. - Scott Collura, IGN It's tough, while agree that Serkis was phenomenal as the ape, I think the statue should be as much his as it was the dozens and hundreds of animators at WETA who made Caesar come to life. It's that sort of complication that will probably make him not win, but it would be cool to see him nominated.

- Paul Tassi, JoBlo.com Serkis provides the movement for Caesar; he brings the character to life, that's for sure. There's even a certain degree of nuance there, arguably. But, BUT: to suggest that Andy Serkis and Andy Serkis alone should be rewarded for that character is to do a gigantic disservice to everyone at Weta who covered him in pixels and made him swing. - Ali, The Shiznit What I’d really like to see is the day when Hollywood’s beautiful people, the Paul Walkers, the Jessica Albas, the Keanus Reeve, are digitized, so that they can never age, or even have to show up to the set, while homely, classically-trained Englishmen work tirelessly behind the scenes to emote for them. We’d still get to see Paul Walker onscreen, but through the magic of performance capture, it’d be Paul Walker infused with the performance of an actor. - Vince Mancini, FilmDrunk @filmnerdjamie : I DO hope Serkis gets a nod...just not holding my breath given Academy's snobby track-record against him.

@TheMcphailure : Yeah, I would love it of Andy Serkis got an award. I'm totally for it @AlexJCaesar : I agree with the push to get Andy Serkis nominated for an Oscar. After seeing Rise of the Planet of the Apes twice, he deserves it. @Majiesto : The man definitely deserves it! @ONoesUDidnt : He at least deserves consideration. @thewetnoodle : How great would it be if Andy Serkis finally got some Academy recognition for the brilliant work he's done on a number of films? @ScottEWeinberg : Perhaps the talent that Andy Serkis possesses is beyond the skill of the Academy to recognize. @chas_n : Serkis' performance lacked a physical aesthetic that is inherent to "Best Actor". It's not called "Best Performance" @davidstripinis : You can't have Andy Serkis get nominated for best actor AND call Tintin animation. Follow Christopher Campbell on Twitter ( @thefilmcynic ) to join The Conversation .

Related pages: By Stacie Hougland Nov 23, 2011 Comments (0) So here we are on the precipice of awards season and things are about to kick into high gear. New York critics will soon speak up, as will the "please-come-to-our-party" invitation winners from the National Board of Review. And we have one more category to speculate upon before we start officially locking in nominees and declaring others in real trouble of being overlooked. There has been a chicken-and-egg factor to the screenplay race over the years. From 1999 to 2008, only four Best Picture nominees (Moulin Rouge, LOTR: The Two Towers, Master & Commander, and Ray) failed to pick up a Screenplay nomination as well. Since the Academy moved to 10 nominees in '09, there have been three (Avatar, The Blind Side, Black Swan) that were not deemed script-worthy. For 2011 we might have ten nominees or we may only have seven Best Picture candidates. Who knows? But we can look at what films could have an extra power boost in their corner.

THE LEADERS If we go back to the first column of the season on the Best Picture race, we should be able to fill in four slots right away; two in each script category. Woody Allen seems certain to grab his 15th writing nomination for Midnight In Paris and be joined by first-time nominee Michel Hazanavicius for his work on The Artist. Do not let the "silent" part fool you into dismissing it. Over on the adaptation side both Tate Taylor (The Help) and the team of Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash (The Descendants) should have little trouble making the cut. After that, it is anybody's game. ADAPT OR DIE Sticking with those who got a little headstart with source material, the Adapted Screenplay category is both wide open and nearly closed up. It is hard for anyone to argue that Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin's Moneyball is not a tight contender at this point, leaving room for only two more films that the public has not even seen yet.

Steve Kloves has never been honored for his contributions to the Harry Potter series and though his work has been exemplary - especially down the stretch - the field may just be too crowded to give him an honorary nomination at this point for The Deathly Hallows Part 2. It should also be safe to dismiss the plays in the field. Neither The Ides of March nor A Dangerous Method have drawn sufficient raves to keep them around. Could the memoirs brea kthrough? Well, many consider the script for My Week With Marilyn to be its weakest element and unless the one for We Bought A Zoo (sneaking in theaters this weekend) is more Cameron Crowe than Aline "27 Dresses" Brosh "I Don't Know How She Does It" McKenna, it probably does not stand a chance. There is talk about Rampart and We Need To Talk About Kevin, but the awards talk will probably end with Woody Harrelson and Tilda Swinton's potential nominations. What about the other period pieces on the docket? Albert Nobbs is already going to be fighting to get Glenn Close that fifth Actress spot. Can it do the same for her as co-screenwriter?

John Logan got nominated for Scorsese's The Aviator, but can he find a place in either category for his work on Hugo or Rango? Peter Straughan's resume is less impressive (The Debt, How To Lose Friends & Alienate People) and even if Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is his best work, look at what is still in the running. If the category is too stuffed for Steven Zaillian to pick up a dual nomination for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, how many want to bet against the potential of War Horse and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close as titles more likely to fit into that chicken-and-egg scenario? ORIGINALITY IS HARD This may turn out to be one of the most difficult categories of all the majors to call. Unless The Iron Lady or In the Land of Blood and Honey turn out to be stunners, we have likely seen all the original candidates. Aside from the aforementioned Rango, plus Midnight In Paris and The Artist, how much room will be made for comedy this year? Bridesmaids seems to be the most likely contender. (Apatow productions The-40-Year-Old Virgin & Knocked Up, both received Writers Guild nominations.) Which means Crazy Stupid Love will unfortunately be forgotten.

There is also the darker and dramatically-laced comedies to flood the field with 50/50, The Beaver, Win Win and Young Adult. That would be one solid list of nominees right there. Of course there is still Lars Von Trier's Melancholia, but he has never received a writing nod, might have a little trouble with his Cannes Nazi comments and is facing a smorgasbord of indie titles (Like Crazy, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Shame, Take Shelter, The Tree of Life) all hoping for a little recognition. Next week we shall begin to analyze how the critic awards and nominations factor into this year's races and make our first shifts to the early percentages that you have seen right here. BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY NOMINEE CHANCES 1. Woody Allen (Midnight In Paris) - 75% 2. Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) - 75% 3. Kristen Wiig & Annie Mumolo (Bridesmaids) - 40% 4. Tom McCarthy (Win Win) - 35% 5. Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) - 33% 6.

Diablo Cody (Young Adult) - 30% 7. Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter) - 25% 8. Will Reiser (50/50) - 25% 9. John Logan (Rango) - 25% 10. Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene) - 20% BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY NOMINEE CHANCES 1. Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash (The Descendants) - 75% 2. Tate Taylor (The Help) - 70% 3. Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin (Moneyball) - 65% 4. Eric Roth (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close) - 50% 5. Richard Curtis & Lee Hall (War Horse) - 50% 6. Steven Zaillian (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) - 35% 7. Adrian Hodges (My Week With Marilyn) - 30% 8. John Banville, Glenn Close & Gabriella Prekop (Albert Nobbs) - 25% 9.

Peter Straughan (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) - 22% 10. Steve Kloves (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2) - 20% Related pages: 'Pina,' 'Project Nim' and 'Paradise Lost 3' are Finalists for the Best Documentary Oscar By Stacie Hougland Nov 18, 2011 Comments (0) Earlier this month I made some predictions of and suggestions for the Academy's Documentary Branch Screening Committee, who annually watch more than 100 qualifying nonfiction films and narrow the choices down to 15. Today, this shortlist was announced , and only six of my picks made the cut. They include Buck, Hell and Back Again, Project Nim, We Were Here and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, which of course will surely be nominated if only because the Paradise Lost films recently freed three innocent men from prison (it's a good reason -- and I haven't yet seen the doc to agree it's also a deserving film).

My sixth selection was from the group of titles I was pretty certain would not be shortlisted, let alone nominated, due to their unconventionality: Wim Wenders' 3D dance film, Pina. Considering the committee watched this wonderful movie on a 2D DVD make its inclusion even more astounding. Hopefully the next stage of voters will see it properly, though it's rather unlikely. Of course, it also has a shot at the Foreign Language Oscar, too, since it's Germany's official submission. Also a surprising contender I didn't expec to see: Jane's Journey, an underrated film with a wonderful message, gorgeous cinematography and a great kinship with this year's more successful animal docs, like fellow shortlisters Buck and Project Nim. Other docs shortlisted include audience favorites like Undefeated and Bill Cunningham New York as well as award-winning issue docs like Semper Fi: Always Faithful, Battle for Brooklyn and If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, which was helmed by previous Oscar nominee Marshall Curry (Street Fight). He joins Wenders, a fellow former Oscar nominee in this category (for Buena Vista Social Club) and Project Nim's James Marsh, who won the award for Man on Wire.

Meanwhile the little-known Under Fire: Journalists in Combat seems a reminder of 2011 nominee Tim Hetherington, the Restrepo co-director who was killed this year while covering events in Libya. Photojournalist Dennis Danfung, recognized for his own embedded-in-Afghanistan doc Hell and Back Again is similarly a reminder. Of course there are always the major snubs, and this year the notables are Senna, which probably didn't resonate for Americans on the committee with no passion for Formula One racing, Werner Herzog's death row doc Into the Abyss and typically excluded legends like Patricio Guzman (Nostalgia for the Light) and Frederick Wiseman (Boxing Gym). Then there's The Interrupters, which just outright shocked me, as it did many others who've seen it. Consider the following is the opening of my review of the film from January , I'm immensely sad and embarrassed, though mostly for the Academy: One of the great blunders in Academy Awards history was when Steve James' 'Hoop Dreams,' considered one of the best non-fiction films of all time, was not even nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar.

I am hopeful that the Academy won't make the same mistake with his latest, and best since. 'The Interrupters' definitely deserves such recognition and would not in the least be viewed as one of those redemptive honors. Like his 17-year-old classic, this is an incredible and moving film. The makers of the film also seemed stunned this afternoon, on Twitter, but now they appear genuinely hopeful The Interrupters will circumvent the documentary "ghetto" and earn an editing nomination, just as Hoop Dreams did 17 years ago. As for the rest of us, we get to just continue enjoying the inspiring work and (please) recommend it to friends. The same goes for any other doc favorites of ours that aren't finalists. Some I've seen mentioned are The Arbor, General Orders No. 9, and of course Being Elmo. Sorry kids, but this really isn't turning out to be a Muppet Oscars after all. Here is the full list of 15 shortlisted documentaries that could earn an Oscar nomination on January 24, 2012.

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front Jane's Journey Under Fire: Journalists in Combat We Were Here 2011 Academy Awards® Winners and History Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom (2011) Puss in Boots (2011) Actor: JEAN DUJARDIN in "The Artist,"Demián Bichir in "A Better Life," George Clooney in "The Descendants," Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Brad Pitt in "Moneyball" Actress: MERYL STREEP in "The Iron Lady," Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs," Viola Davis in "The Help," Rooney Mara in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," Michelle Williams in "My Week With Marilyn" Supporting Actor: CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER in "Beginners," Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn," Jonah Hill in "Moneyball," Nick Nolte in "Warrior," Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" Supporting Actress: OCTAVIA SPENCER in "The Help," Bérénice Bejo in "The Artist," Jessica Chastain in "The Help

," Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids," Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs" Director: MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS for "The Artist," Alexander Payne for "The Descendants," Martin Scorsese for "Hugo," Woody Allen for "Midnight in Paris," Terrence Malick for "The Tree of Life" There were 24 different categories in this year's Oscars race.

In the first year of Oscar presentations (for 1927/1928 films), there were only 12 categories. This year's nine Best Picture nominees in the top category included the most acclaimed and awarded films of the year. There were nine nominees for Best Picture, using a new nomination process, announced in June of 2010. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had once again changed its Oscar's Best Picture nomination process for the second time in three years. It followed a very brief, two-year period in which the Best Picture field included 10 nominees, making the choices extremely inclusive. The new system made the voters' ranking order of favorite films more important. In the new nomination process, Academy members were asked to rank five films for Best Picture (rather than 10, as in the last two years). In order to acquire a Best Picture nomination, a film had to earn at least 5% of the total number of first-place votes (projected to be around 240 ballots), allowing for between five and 10 nominees.

Nominees/Wins by Studio: The Weinstein Company had 16 nominations (from 5 films) and 8 wins; Paramount had 18 nominations (from 6 films) and 6 wins; Buena Vista had 12 nominations (from 4 films) and 2 wins; while Sony Pictures with 21 nominations (from 8 films) had only 3 wins. The two top films, with a combined 21 nominations and 10 Oscar wins, were both nostalgic odes to the history of film-making and the early bygone days of cinema, followed by a few other films also set in the past. Six of the nine Best Picture nominees were adapted from literary works, and the top two were both French-related, as was Woody Allen's nominee! The two top films were also competing against each other in seven categories.

The lineup of Best Picture nominees with their wins (in descending order), are found below: The Artist (with 10 nominations and five major wins: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Score, and Best Costume Design), a low-budget, black and white film with only $32.1 million (domestic) box-office, by French director Michel Hazanavicius, a nearly-silent film from the Weinstein Company that recalled the first-ever Best Picture winner, Wings (1927/1928) - the only non-speaking 'Best Picture' in Academy history. [The Artist became the second silent Best Picture winner in Oscar history.] It was the first silent (almost) to be nominated for Best Picture since Ernst Lubitsch's The Patriot (1928/1929). [Note: The Patriot was the only silent film among the five nominees of its year, and the last silent film to receive a Best Picture nomination, over 80 years ago.

The last fully B&W Best Picture winner was The Apartment (1960) .] Hugo (with 11 nominations and five wins, in technical categories: Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing, with no performance nominations), by director Martin Scorsese (with his 7th Best Director nomination), a 3-D family adventure film from Paramount; it was a 12 year-old orphan boy (Asa Butterfield) story set in 1930s Paris at the Gare Montparnasse train station (with mechanical wonders) where the boy (son of a late master clockmaker) tried to repair a broken mechanical man and unlock its secret, with homage to pioneering French silent film director Georges Melies (Ben Kingsley) The Descendants (with 5 nominations, and only one win for Best Adapted Screenplay), by director Alexander Payne, an emotional, sometimes melancholy family drama set in Hawaii, based on the best-selling novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, about an indifferent husband and father of two girls who was forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffered a boating accident off of Waikiki The Help

 (with 4 nominations, including three performance nominations and only one win for Best Supporting Actress), by writer/director Tate Taylor, an ensemble film and an adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's best-selling novel about "the help" during the 1960s civil rights-era in Mississippi Midnight in Paris (with 4 nominations, and one win for Best Original Screenplay), by director-nominated Woody Allen, a Parisian romantic fantasy from the 1920s from Sony Pictures, the top-grossing film of Woody Allen's career (to date $56 million domestic and $148.3 million worldwide) - his 41st feature film.

Allen's Oscar win for Best Original Screenplay was his third Original Screenplay Oscar, following wins for Annie Hall (1977) and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) 25 years earlier - and it was Allen's fourth overall Oscar (out of 23 nominations). [Note: The only times Allen has won the Original Screenplay Oscar has been when his films were also nominated for Best Picture.

In addition, Allen was the oldest winner of the Best Original Screenplay award, at age 76.] Moneyball (with 6 nominations and no wins), from Sony Pictures, by un-nominated director Bennett Miller, an inside-baseball biographical sports drama based on Michael Lewis' 2003 book regarding a true story - the 2002 season of the Oakland A's baseball team [Note: the six nominations were the most for any baseball movie since The Pride of the Yankees (1942) received 11 nominations; no baseball film has ever won Best Picture, and the last baseball film to be nominated for the top award was Field of Dreams (1989) (with three nominations).] War Horse (with 6 nominations and no wins), by director Steven Spielberg, a beautifully-filmed, old-fashioned WWI war-time epic drama, about an English farm boy who joined the army to search for his horse Joey after it was sold into the cavalry and shipped to France during the war The Tree of Life (with 3 nominations and no wins), by Terrence Malick, an esoteric, experimental, non-linear family chronicle of life in 1950s small-town Texas Extremely Loud &

 Incredibly Close (with 2 nominations and no wins), by director Stephen Daldry, a surprise last-minute nomination for the poignant, sentimental post-9/11 drama about a 9 year-old boy coping with the grief of losing his father Only one of the Best Picture nominees had earned more than $100 million at the box-office at the time of nominations and awards, Buena Vista's The Help, at $169.6 million.

The Artist at $32.1 million, the front-running winning film joined the low-ranking films of the previous two years, The Hurt Locker (2009) (at $17 million) and The King's Speech (2010) (at $135 million), and it was on track to be the second lowest-grossing Best Picture winner since The Last Emperor (1987) (at $44 million). Hugo was also low-grossing at $69.5 million. The films of all of the five nominees for Best Director were also nominated for Best Picture. All of the Best Director nominees were males (unlike two years previously when Kathryn Bigelow won for the category), and all were veterans, except for 44 year-old Michel Hazanavicius, who won the Best Director Oscar for The Artist. It was his first nomination (and win), and the first for a French director.

The other four nominees were: 69 year-old Martin Scorsese, with his 7th Best Director nomination, and a previous win for The Departed (2006) 76 year-old Woody Allen, with his 7th Best Director nomination, and a previous win for Annie Hall (1977) Terrence Malick, who had received two previous nominations for The Thin Red Line (1998) (Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director) Alexander Payne (with his second Best Director nomination) was previously nominated as Best Director for Sideways (2004) (he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film). The Iranian family drama from writer/director Asghar Farhadi, A Separation had two nominations (including Best Original Screenplay) and won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar - it was the first Iranian film to be nominated (and also win) in Academy history. The Best Animated Feature Film category included two non-CGI (hand-drawn) animated nominees - a pair of unlikely and obscure, foreign-language independent film candidates from the small New York distributor GKIDS.

The winner was Rango, director Gore Verbinski's Western comedy-adventure (with voice of Johnny Depp as chameleon Rango), Verbinski's first nomination (and win) after being overlooked for his live action films.

The other nominees (conspicuously without a Pixar nominee or winner) were: A Cat in Paris (Fr.) (aka Une Vie De chat), non-CGI animation, about young traumatized and unspeaking Parisian girl Zoe and her cat Dino (and rooftop cat burglar Nico) - an exciting mystery thriller unfolding over the course of one evening Chico & Rita, by Spanish filmmaker Fernando Trueba, an old-fashioned, hand-drawn animated tale of star-crossed love in the 1940s-1950s with a jazzy (Latino-Cuban) soundtrack, between young jazz pianist Chico & beautiful singer Rita Kung Fu Panda 2, from DreamWorks, the blockbuster sequel to the 2008 film, the highest-grossing animated film of the year, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson Puss in Boots, from DreamWorks, from director Chris Miller, a spin-off sequel to the Shrek film franchise - the first spin-off nominee in the category There were nine first-time nominees among the 20 performance nominees - the most newcomers were within the Best Supporting Actress category.

The Best Actor category included two long-time favorite nominees (Clooney and Pitt), but neither of them triumphed. The category was won by a first-time nominee - and the first French actor to ever win Best Actor - 39 year-old French actor Jean Dujardin (with his first nomination and win) for his performance in The Artist, as declining, handsome silent film star George Valentin struggling with the coming of talkies. The other four Best Actor nominees were: 48 year-old Mexican actor and underdog Demián Bichir (with his first nomination) for director Chris Weitz' illegal immigrant drama A Better Life, as East L.A.

gardener Carlos Galindo, while coping with his teenaged son lured by local gangs 50 year-old George Clooney (with his third Best Actor nomination, and 6th Oscar nomination overall, with one win for Syriana (2005) for Best Supporting Actor) for The Descendants, as middle-aged father of two daughters and Honolulu-based lawyer Matt King coping with his cheating wife's coma [Note: Clooney was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for his own directed film, The Ides of March (its sole nomination)] 53 year-old English actor Gary Oldman (with his first nomination) for director Tomas Alfredson's UK espionage film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (with three nominations and no wins), an adaptation of the John Le Carré novel, as British intelligence agent George Smiley hunting for a Soviet mole in the 1970s 48 year-old Brad Pitt for Moneyball (with his third Oscar nomination overall and second Best Actor nomination, with no wins), as Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane The Best Actress category included two legendary veterans (one without any wins from six nominations, and the other with her 17th nomination), and only one first-time nominee.

Two actresses in the category, Glenn Close and Meryl Streep have competed against each other in the Best Actress category twice before (in 1987 and 1988), and on the two previous occasions both lost (to Moonstruck (1987) and Cher, and to The Accused (1988) and Jodi Foster). This time in an upset, 62 year-old Meryl Streep won her third Oscar (it was with her record-setting 17th Oscar nomination, five more than both second-place Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson, and she already possessed 13 Best Actress nominations), for her performance in The Iron Lady (with two nominations, and two wins including Best Makeup), a biopic by director Phyllida Lloyd, as former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She had two previous Oscars for Best Supporting Actress for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Best Actress for Sophie's Choice (1982). [Note: Streep hadn't won an Oscar in the last 12 instances, stretching back to 1982].

The other Best Actress nominees were: 64 year-old Glenn Close (with her 6th Oscar nomination overall and her third Best Actress nomination, with no wins - her last nomination was 23 years earlier) for director Rodrigo Garcia's Albert Nobbs (with three nominations and no wins), as title character Albert Nobbs, a hotel waiter trapped after masquerading as a man in late 19th century and early 20th century Ireland 46 year-old African-American stage actress Viola Davis (with her 2nd Oscar nomination overall, previously nominated as Best Supporting Actress for Doubt (2008) opposite co-star Meryl Streep, with no wins) for The Help, as middle-aged, stoic, headstrong black servant-maid Aibileen Clark (one of "the Help") in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s during the Civil Rights era, who shared her experiences, from her point of view, with aspiring writer Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone) for an anonymously-published book, The Help 26 year-old Rooney Mara (with her first nomination) for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (with five nominations total and only one win for Best

 Film Editing), an R-rated thriller-remake by un-nominated director David Fincher and based on Stieg Larsson's Millennium book series, as violent, bisexual computer hacker misfit Lisbeth Salander assisting Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) in an investigation into the possible murder of a missing girl 31 year-old Michelle Williams (with her third Oscar nomination and second nomination for Best Actress, with no wins) for My Week With Marilyn (with two nominations and no wins), by UK director Simon Curtis, as bombshell movie legend Marilyn Monroe, a fragile screen beauty during the troubled making of the film The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) with Laurence Olivier The Best Supporting Actor category was notable for having only one nominated actor under 50 years of age (there were two 82 year-old nominees, some of the oldest on record), and all nominees had never won an Oscar.

The winner in the category was the favorite - 82 year-old Canadian-born Christopher Plummer (with his second Best Supporting Actor nomination and his first Oscar win), for Beginners (the film's sole nomination and win), a romantic comedy-drama by director/writer Mike Mills, as 75 year-old Hal Fields, a dying, terminally-ill widower who came out of the closet to his adult son. With his win, Plummer became the oldest actor to win an Oscar. He also became the oldest person to win an Academy Award in one of the four acting categories.

The other nominees in the category were: 51 year-old British actor Kenneth Branagh (with his 5th Oscar nomination overall, and first Best Supporting Actor nomination, with no wins) for My Week with Marilyn, as acting legend Sir Laurence Olivier 28 year-old Jonah Hill (with his first nomination) for Moneyball, as numbers-crunching assistant GM Peter Brand assisting Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) with statistics 70 year-old Nick Nolte (with his 3rd Oscar nomination overall after two Best Actor noms in 1991 and 1998, with no wins) for Warrior (the underappreciated film's sole nomination), a sports-action drama by director Gavin O'Connor, as raspy-voiced, troubled but recovering alcoholic Paddy Conlon dealing with his two martial-arts competing sons (estranged brothers) (Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton) 82 year-old Max von Sydow (with his 2nd Oscar nomination overall, following a Best Actor nomination in 1988, with no wins) for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, as the unnamed character called The Renter, who offered support non-verbally

 (through a notepad and a 'yes' and 'no' on his palms) to precocious child protagonist (Thomas Horn) The Best Supporting Actress category had only one returning Oscar nominee and four first-time nominees.

The category was won by 41 year-old African-American actress Octavia Spencer (with her first nomination) for The Help, as black 'help' maid and talented chef/pie-maker Minny Jackson.

The other Best Supporting Actress nominees were: 35 year-old Argentine-French actress Bérénice Bejo (the wife of the film's director) (with her first nomination) for The Artist, as silent film fan and rising female star-ingenue Peppy Miller 30 year-old Jessica Chastain (with her first nomination) for The Help, as 'white trash' bottle blonde Celia Foote from an impoverished background, married to Johnny Foote (Mike Vogel), and the naive employer of smart-mouthed black maid/cook Minny Jackson (fellow-nominee Octavia Spencer) 41 year-old Melissa McCarthy (with her first nomination) for the ribald comedy Bridesmaids, as sex-hungry, raunchy and obnoxious future sister-in-law bridesmaid Megan [Note: It has been rare in Academy history to have nominations for comedies, and especially female comedic roles.] 50 year-old British actress Janet McTeer (with one previous Best Actress nomination in 1999, with no wins) for Albert Nobbs, as Hubert Page, a cross-dressing woman passing as a man (a housepainter who was married to another woman); he was a kindred spirit

 and inspirational role model for co-star Albert Nobbs (Glenn Close) Oscar Snubs and Omissions: Tilda Swinton for director Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin, as Kevin's (Ezra Miller) deeply-troubled, psychopathic mother Eva Khatchadourian of a murderous child Michael Fassbender for director Steve McQueen's NC-17 rated UK drama Shame, as sex-addict Brandon Sullivan Leonardo di Caprio for director Clint Eastwood's biopic J.

Edgar (without nominations), as FBI head J. Edgar Hoover Shailene Woodley for The Descendants, as 17 year-old daughter Alexandra ("Alex"), who revealed that her dying comatose mother Elizabeth was having an affair David Fincher, the un-nominated director of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, also devoid of a Best Picture nomination

Question: Which film won the Oscar for Best Picture at the 2011 Academy Awards?
Answer: The King’s Speech